1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique for updating control software of a network apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a certain network apparatus such as a network printer or a network compatible multifunctional printer (hereinafter abbreviated an “MFP”) which performs scanning, printing and copying, a controller that realizes the functions of the printer or the MFP and a controller that executes network-related processing are disposed separately. These controllers are interconnected via a communication channel. In general the functions of these controllers are realized with the execution of control software (i.e., a computer program) stored in a ROM installed in each controller by a CPU disposed in each controller. This control software (generally termed “firmware”) is sometimes updated in order to improve the function of the respective controllers, for example.
By the way, there is a risk that the firmware do not function as a firmware when only a part is updated, and that the network apparatus may not be able to start. To avoid the risk, where the firmware is to be updated, data of entire firmware used for updating (called “firmware image”) is generated and the firmware is updated using the generated firmware image.
However, during firmware updating, in order to write the firmware image to an electrically-programmable ROM (EPROM), the firmware image is stored temporarily in the RAM of each controller. Therefore, the RAM storage capacity required by each controller in order to store the firmware image may need to be larger than the storage capacity that is required to implement the functions of each controller.